请大家一起来看看这道RC

CrackingGMAC · 发表于 2013-9-24 08:11:44

Modern manufacturers, who need reliable sources of materials and technologically advanced components to operate profitably, face an increasingly difficult choice between owning the producers of these items (a practice known as backward integration) and buying from independent producers. Manufacturers who integrate may reap short-term rewards, but they often restrict their future capacity for innovative product development.

Backward integration removes the need for some purchasing and marketing functions, centralizes overhead, and permits manufacturers to eliminate duplicated efforts in research and development. Where components are commodities (ferrous metals or petroleum, for example), backward integration almost certainly boosts profits. Nevertheless, because product innovation means adopting the most technologically advanced and cost-effective ways of making components, backward integration may entail a serious risk for a technologically active companyï¿½for example, a producer of sophisticated consumer electronics.

A company that decides to make rather than buy important parts can lock itself into an outdated technology. Independent suppliers may be unwilling to share innovations with assemblers with whom they are competing. Moreover, when an assembler sets out to master the technology of producing advanced components, the resulting demands on its resources may compromise its ability to assemble these components successfully into end products. Long-term contracts with suppliers can achieve many of the same cost benefits as backward integration without compromising a companyâs ability to innovate.

However, moving away from backward integration is not a complete solution either. Developing innovative technologies requires independent suppliers of components to invest huge sums in research and development. The resulting low profit margins on the sale of components threaten the long-term financial stability of these firms. Because the ability of end-product assemblers to respond to market opportunities depends heavily on suppliers of components, assemblers are often forced to integrate by purchasing the suppliers of components just to keep their suppliers in business.
Question:
Which of the following best describes the way the last paragraph functions in the context of the passage?

A. The last in a series of arguments supporting the central argument of the passage is presented.
B. A viewpoint is presented which qualifies one presented earlier in the passage.
C. Evidence is presented in support of the argument developed in the preceding paragraph.
D. Questions arising from the earlier discussion are identified as points of departure for further study of the topic.
E. A specific example is presented to illustrate the main elements of the argument presented in the earlier paragraphs.

答案B。但问题是我对B选项qualifies 一词很表示怀疑。因为最后一段说的是“backaward integration 还是需要的。” 但是第三段（就是one presented earlier in the passage) 说的是“应该和供应商做contract 而不是backward integration". 那怎么就qualifies 了呢？明明就是 contradicted 的。我选的A，因为第一段就说了，”到底是backward integration(就是自己来做）还是从suppliers 买对现在制造业是很不easy得decision"...

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请大家一起来看看这道RC

所属分类: GMAT考试

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